The Outre Eye Focuses On: Into The Dark: All That We Destroy (2019)

Hulu’s holiday based arcane anthology series Into the Dark returns with a chapter dedicated to good ol’ Mom and her special day! Let’s jump into All That We Destroy!

Is there nothing a mother won’t do for her son; she’ll do his laundry, cut the crust off his sandwiches, create genetic clones of his first murder victim so he can relive the event again and again to satisfy his appetite for the murder biz…you know, the usual…

So yeah, Spence (Israel Broussard) is a psycho, Ashley (Aurora Perrineau) is his eternal victim, and Dr. Harris (Samantha Mathis) is the maternal geneticist that has set up one hell of a revoltin’ experiment to better understand the dark nature of her spawn. Seems reasonable enough, except those clones mentioned up yonder begin to have memories of their death…what could go wrong?

All That We Destroy is a bit of a mixed entry in the series; it lacks the full on intensity that other entries such as I’m Just F*cking with You and The Body (which also featured Perrineau), and features a bit of predictability (the same problem inherent in February’s offering Down)…but that isn’t to say it isn’t worth a watch.

The basic concept of a murderer killing his victim over and over via cloning in the name of research is a novel one, and screenwriters Sean Keller and Jim Agnew do a good job of world building and keeping the sci-fi premise believable. Of course the strength of the cast helps out immeasurably with that last point as well, with strong performances from Mathis and Broussard (with the latter on display, as well as a great sympathetic turn from Perrineau making for an engaging watch.

Also of note is the direction from Chelsea Stardust who presents the material with a cool sterility that matches the science lab setting of the narrative and methodical personalities of Harris and Spencer.

While not the strongest entry in the Into the Dark oeuvre (that would be the aforementioned I’m Just F*cking with You if you’re keeping score at home); All That We Destroy is nevertheless a dark, sci-fi yarn worth your time…even if you can easily predict the final outcome.

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?